XVGM Radio

Marred in 90s era video game controversy, Konami’s Lethal Enforcers series, along with Mortal Kombat, Night Trap, and several other games, had ironic targets on their backs for their innovative, realistic (at the time) graphics involving firing a fake plastic gun at the screen, killing human targets. Years later, the series is best known for pushing buttons in the North American political atmosphere, which is a shame because it SHOULD be known for their amazing soundtracks! Today on XVGM Radio, Justin and Mike go a few rounds with some Lethal Enforcers 1 and 2 tunes, comparing the versions and picking which ones they like the best after their heavy analyzing. Well worth the price of admission, you’ll be firing in quarters like crazy into your phone to reload more amazing tunes full of orchestra synth hits, SNES Midi guitar, along with tons of comparison to other Konami OSTs. This episode has its target set on you, time to hit play! We’d love to hear what you thought about these two soundtracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Big thank you to RayjKayj for picking a track via his Patreon reward and for sending us a request! Also, Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter, Instagram, and BlueSky are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro a – Lethal Enforcers (ARC – 1992) “Rolling Badguys (Stage 1)” Kenichiro Fukui Intro b – Lethal Enforcers (GEN – 1993) “Rolling Badguys (Stage 1)” Kenichiro Fukui 1a – Lethal Enforcers (SNES – 1994) “Dead or Alive (Boss Theme)” Harumi Ueko (Arranger) 1b – Lethal Enforcers (GEN – 1993) “Dead or Alive (Boss Theme)” Kenichiro Fukui 2a – Patreon Pick: RayjKayj – Lethal Enforcers II: GunFighters (ARC – 1994) “Saloon Showdown (Stage 3-1, 3-5~6)” Yuuichi Sakakura, Tsuyoshi Sekito 2b – Lethal Enforcers II: GunFighters (GEN – 1994) “Saloon Showdown (Stage 3-1, 3-5~6)” Yuuichi Sakakura, Tsuyoshi Sekito 3a – Lethal Enforcers (SNES – 1994) “Fight for your Life” Harumi Ueko (Arranger) Kenichiro Fukui 3b – Lethal Enforcers (PS1 – 1997) “Fight for your Life (Stages 3-3 & 5-1)” Eric Pryzby, Jun Funahashi, Kenichiro Fukui 4a – Lethal Enforcers II: GunFighters (SCD – 1994) “The Hide-Out (Stage 5-1, 5-4~5)” Tsuyoshi Sekito, Yūichi Sakakura 4b – Lethal Enforcers II: GunFighters (GEN – 1994) “Hideout (Stages 5-1, 5-4~5)” Yuuichi Sakakura, Tsuyoshi Sekito

Free Picks…the very definition of randomness. Every 20 episodes, Mike and Justin think back to stuff they’re playing, or perhaps pick a track suggested by our Discord members (Thanks ElectricBoogaloo for this month’s pick!) What follows is an episode full of tongue twisters, caller requests from questionable callers and Justin goes all in on Destiny discussion. One COULD call this a “Squeakuel” but it’s best to call it Free Picks 6: The Search For 5! We’d love to hear what you thought about these random tracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro (J) – Kidou Senshi Z-Gundam – Hot Scramble (FC – 1986) “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete (Main BGM – For Us To Decide)” Neil Sedaka 1 – Destiny 2: The Final Shape (PS/XB/PC – 2024) “Cusp of Finality” Rotem Moav, Skye Lewin, Michael Salvatori, Josh Mosser, Michael Sechrist 2 – Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4 – 2020) “Barret’s Theme (Jukebox Version)” Nobuo Uematsu (Original), Yuichi Tsuchiya (Arranger) 3 – Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge (ARC – 1998) “Skyscraper Sequence” Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Fumio Ito, Dennis St. James (Vocals) 4 – Capcom Generation: Dai 2 Shū – Makai to Kishi (SAT/PS1 – 1998) “ARR08 (Ghoul’s Stomach)” Mari Yamaguchi (Original) Unknown Arranger 5 – Secret of Evermore (SNES – 1995) “Regal Castle” Jeremy Soule 6 – The Return of Medusa: Rings of Medusa II (AMI/AST – 1991) “Intro” Jochen Hippel 7 – Minnesota Fats – Pool Legend (GEN – 1995) “Chillin” Masaaki Iwasaki, Taihei, Seiji Momoi, Arma, Shogo Sakai 8 – Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (XBONE/PS4/PC – 2021) “Space Riders With No Name” Richard Jacques (Main Game Music,) Star-Lord (Steve Szczepkowski, Yohann Boudreault) 9 – Cyber City Oedo 808: Kemono no Zokusei (PCE – 1991) “Power Source” Keiichi Yamamoto, Atsuhiro Motoyama, Miyuki Takagi, Atsushi Yamaji 10 – Marvel SNAP (MOB/IOS/STEAM – 2022) “Build Your Team” Christopher Alan Grabar

Multiplayer games can create some of the most memorable times for gamers but what few people talk about is their music. Today on XVGM Radio, Mike and Justin focus on the Party Game genre (with a few examples that fit further into the multiplayer aspects.) The guys chat about the mountain that is One Piece’s anime series (and their lack of interest in it,) Smash Bros memories, their favorite muppets…and….Kermit 1v1ing their producer Janine in the alley?! This is sure to be an episode to remember! Gather all your friends and let’s chat about some party game VGM! Big thanks to Ed Wilson for his appearance as Ryu Hayabusa for Patreon member Cam Werme’s call-in testimonial. We’d love to hear what you thought about this episode! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Big thanks to Cam Werme for his Patreon Pick, and bonus thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Marques Stewart, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro – Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN – 2001) “Final Destination” Tadashi Ikegami, Shogo Sakai, Takuto Kitsuta 1 – Ball Jacks (SMD – 1993) “2-Player VS” Yoshinori Kawamoto, H. Umino 2 – One Piece: Pirates’ Carnival (GCN/PS2 – 2005) “Stage 03” Kenjiro Hiwatari, Yuki Watanabe 3 – Jackbox Party Pack 2 (PS4/PC – 2015) “Lobby Music (From Earwax)” Andy Poland 4 – Muppets: Party Cruise (GCN/PS2 – 2003) “Stinky Cheese” Chris Tilton 5 – Pac Man V.S. (GCN – 2003) “Haunted Hall (Original Pac Man World)” Unknown Composer 6 – Game & Wario (WiiU – 2013) “Cluck-a-Pop Collection (Chick-N-Win)” Yasuhisa Baba 7 – Patreon Pick: Cam Werme – Pictionary (NES – 1990) “Drawing Game” Tim Follin 8 – Bomberman (DS – 2005) “Multiplayer Battle (BDS)” Morihiro Iwamoto 9 – Mario Party (N64 – 1998) “Yoshi’s Tropical Island” Yasunori Matsuda 10 – The Jackbox Party Pack 7 (All – 2020) “Lobby (From Champ’d Up)” Andy Poland

Greetings boils, ghouls and everyBOOdy in between! Welcome to another SPOOOOOOOOKYFEST 2024! Each year, Mike and Justin get together for an “outdoor festival” that everyone can go to and enjoy some spooky halloween tunes! From horror movie based IPs with insanely creepy swamp tracks to bad William Shatner impressions, this episode is chock full of tricks AND treats that’ll keep you coming back to the festival for years to come! Enjoy a glass of rotten worm punch and rock out to some Baroque style jams from the Sharp 68000. Here’s SPOOKYFEST 2024! We’d love to hear what you thought about these SPOOKYYYY tracks! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Special thanks to Jordan and Anson Davis for picking a track this episode! Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Marques Stewart, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more a http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro – Spirits and Spells/Castleween (GCN/GBA, 2003) “The Shrouded Cemetery & the Crypt” Michel Golgivit, Olivier Rabat 1 – Clock Tower (SFC – 1995) “Death in the Elevator” Koji Niikura 2 – Splatterhouse 3 (GEN – 1993) “David in Peril ” Eiko Kaneda (as Milky Eiko) 3 – Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (GEN – 1994) “Lakamul Rainforest” Matt Furniss, Shaun Hollingworth (Drivers) 4 – Evil Dead: Regeneration (PS2/XB/PC – 2005) “Swamp Tension” PCB Productions, Kristoffer Larson, Keith Arem, Michael Cohen 5 – Patreon Pick: Jordan/Anson Davis – LittleBigPlanet PSVita (PSV – 2012) “Ghost in the Pan” Richard Jacques 6 – Dredge (PS4/PS5/XB1/XBS/SWI/PC – 2023) “The Winnowed Town” David Mason 7 – Laplace no Ma (X68000 – 1990) “Battle with Huster” Akiko Kosaka 8 – Remnant 2 (PS5/XBS/PC – 2023) “Feast for the Ravenous” Rob Westwood, Òscar Senén 9 – Deep Fear (SAT, 1998) “Destruction” Kenji Kawai 10 – Alone in the Dark (PS5/XBS/PC – 2024) “Alone in the Dark – Credits” Jason Köhnen

Justin comes in with a jump off the top rope! BOOM! Mike goes down, and it’s ONE-TWO-11? Yes, 11 tracks of excellent wrestling music from video games are coming your way on this super-charged episode of XVGM Radio! Hear the guys chat about their Wrestling game (and Wrestling TV) experiences. Plus an extra special appearance by a few pals of XVGM Radio in a super silly commercial, all on the 114th episode! Big thanks to Ed (The VGMbassy,) Rob and Pernell (Rhythm & Pixels,) Alex (A VGM Journey,) and Bedroth (Very Good Music VGM Podcast) for being on the latest commercial! Please go check out their podcasts if you like VGM! What did you think of this episode and the tunes? Got a favorite track you heard today or a suggestion? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Super Best Friends Club aka Rhythm & Pixels, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Redhua, Marques Stewart, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro – Tag Team Wrestling (NES – 1986) “Track 1” Unknown Composer 1 – WWF WrestleMania (NES – 1989) “Ted ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Dibiase’s Theme” David Wise 2 – HAL Wrestling (GB – 1990) “BGM #03” Takahiro Wakuta 3 – Toukon Club (FC – 1992) “Iron Lips’ Theme” Iku Mizutani 4 – Thunder Pro Wrestling Retsuden (SMD – 1992) “Track 10” Takeshi Saitō, Garheu 5 – Rumble Roses (PS2 – 2004) “Whip Me Hard!” Sota Fujimori 6 – Patreon Pick: Scott McElhone – WCW vs The World (PSX – 1997) “Character Select/Main Menu” T’s Music 7 – WWF Attitude (PS1/N64/DC – 1999) “Menu Music – Redbook Audio Version” Bruce North, Andre Hoth, Roy Wilkins 8 – Super Fire Pro Wrestling X (SFC – 1995) “Super J” Unknown Composer 9 – WCW/nWO Revenge (N64 – 1998) “Options” Koji Niikura 10 – Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 (N64 – 1997) “Rock em Stock em” Unknown Composer

High score rankings have been a thing since the 70s in video games. But the music layered behind them didn’t really pick up until the 80s. Justin and Mike examine these tunes to explore the eastern vs western comparisons. Eastern composers tend to create much shorter high score music than western composers and the guys find a few tracks here and there that do show the differences in tone and style. Filled with influences from prog and classic rock, funk, r&b, dance and new wave genres, today’s episode pulls no punches with tracks from Amiga, arcade, 16 bit systems and even some redbook audio! There’s even a newer track buried in here to prove that high score tunes have a life beyond the 80s and 90s! We hope you’ll rank this one high on your podcast list! What did you think of this episode and the tunes? Got a favorite track you heard today or a suggestion? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Claire Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Super Best Friends Club aka Rhythm & Pixels, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Marques Stewart, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: Intro – Ridge Racer Revolution (PS1 – 1996) “High Score Screen” Nobuhide Isayama, Hiroshi Okubo 1 – Spider Man/X-Men Arcade’s Revenge (SNES – 1992) “High Score Table” Geoff Follin, Tim Follin 2 – Leatherneck (1988 – AMI) “High Score” David Whittaker 3 – GODS (GEN – 1992) “High Score Tune” Richard Joseph, Nation 12 (John Foxx,) Jason Page (Mega Drive Conversion) 4 – Dangerous Seed (ARC – 1989) “Name Entry” Yoshinori Nagumo 5 – Patreon Pick: Ryan McPherson – Kirby’s Pinball Land (GB – 1993) “High Score Entry” Tadashi Ikegami 6 – Gradius III (SNES – 1990) “King of Kings” Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko, Yukie Morimoto 7 – Final Vendetta (SWI/Xbone/PS4- 2022) “High Score Board” Featurecast, Utah Saints 8 – Strider Returns: Journey from Darkness (1993 – GEN) “High Score” Unknown Composer 9 – Battle Squadron (AMI – 1989) “High Score 2” Yvo Zoer, Ron Klaren 10 – Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PCE-CD – 1995) “High Scores – Name Entry” T’s Music Limited Company

Music touches all aspects of the soul. It’s a large part of what makes us human. In tough times or happy moments and everything in between, music can be therapy in many ways and video game music is no different. On today’s episode, we sit down for a chat with Norihiko Hibino and listen to one of his favorite genre offerings: Jazz music. We listen to a few tracks from his latest album, Jazz Resort, Vol. 2. He talks about his influences (John Coltrane,) and shares stories about his time at Konami (What was lunch time like in Konami’s headquarters?) Mike asks some blatantly selfish questions about Castlevania and we learn about some close, personal composer friends of his. We also get to hear stories about Hideo Kojima and how Hibino’s hectic schedule worked when composing for multiple projects at the same time. For Konami, Metal Gear and Jazz fans, this is an episode you DO NOT want to miss! Huge thanks to Scarlet Moon Productions and Jayson Napolitano for making this happen for us! Check out Hibino’s album, Jazz Resort, Vol 2. Here: https://scarletmoonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-resort-vol-2 Also, we can’t thank Norihiko Hibino enough for taking time out of his schedule to chat with us about his amazing music. Please check out Norihiko Hibino’s social medias and websites here: https://twitter.com/norihikohibino https://www.facebook.com/HibinoSoundTherapyLab/ https://hstl.net What did you think of this episode and Jazz Resort Vol 2? Got a favorite track you heard today? Shoot us an email at XVGMRadio@gmail.com or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio Also, we have a Discord Channel! Join us and chat about the show, share a random or obscure VGM song you love, or just chit chat with Mike and Justin about tacos! Join for free here: https://discord.gg/zWxDYfn Thanks to all of our wonderful Patrons: Cam Werme, Chris Murray, Chris Myers, Scott McElhone, Jordan & Anson Davis, Rayjkayj, Llama Adam, Kung Fu Carlito, Nick Davis, Ryan McPherson, Marques Stewart, Scott Brackett, and Brad Austin. Become a Patron, get cool rewards, and more at http://www.Patreon.com/XVGMRadio Check out all episodes of XVGM Radio on www.youtube.com/dongled for another more visual format! Our Twitter and Instagram are great ways to interact with us! Find us on there under our handle @XVGMRadio If you’re an Apple Podcasts listener, please consider leaving a rating and a review to let us know how we’re doing! It also helps with getting the show to show up when others are searching for VGM! TRACK LISTING: (All songs by Norihiko Hibino) Intro – “There’s Always A Path” from Norihiko Hibino’s Jazz Resort, Vol 2. 1 – Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel (GBC – 2000) “Infiltration 2” Kazuki Muraoka (Sound Direction) 2 – Zone of the Enders (PS2 – 2001) “You Need This Done To You” 3 – Ninja Blade (360/PC – 2009) “Main Theme” 4 – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2 – 2004) “The Pain” 5 – Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand (GBA – 2003) “The Count of Groundsoaking Blood” Intermission – “I Miss You” from Norihiko Hibino’s Jazz Resort, Vol 2 6 – Shinobi (3DS – 2011) “Shadow Master” 7 – Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (GBA – 2004) “Solar Boy Django” 8 – Bayonetta 2 (WiiU – 2014) “The World’s Beginning” 9 – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2 – 2001) “Fortune” 10 – 9 Years of Shadows (SWI/PC – 2023) “Hibino’s Theme” Miguel Hasson, Michiru Yamane, Norihiko Hibino Outro – “To You” from Norihiko Hibino’s Jazz Resort, Vol 2